Automation systems — Formal modeling of temporal change of physical structure

Throughout the operation of an automation system component failures are unavoidable and inevitably result in changes of the physical automation system structure (which are usually compensated soon after by maintenance or repair). This is in this work referred to as: temporal change of physical structure (TeCoPS). Simultaneously, due to dependencies between the physical and the functional structures, the functional automation system structure is also affected (which can negatively influence physical plant processes). Analyses of the effects of TeCoPS must be performed as part of the automation system engineering. This task can be supported by automated analyses, e.g. with the help of knowledge-based systems (KBS). In the focus of this paper is the formal modeling, i.e. with unambiguous and complete syntax and semantics, of TeCoPS, which utilizes the Process Specification Language (PSL). Utilization of PSL enables the integration of TeCoPS as knowledge into KBS. In addition, the paper shortly introduces the underlying metamodel for the modeling of automation systems.